English

Vision

Our Reading Vision

· Reading curriculum should follow “reading with, reading to, reading by”

· Reading with – explicit teaching using appropriate strategies

· Reading to – teachers and experienced readers read aloud and model the why and how of reading

· Reading by – pupils have opportunities to practise and apply what they have learnt in a more independent context.

· Children develop key skills: fluency, accuracy, comprehension, deduction and inference.

· Reading lessons engage children through use of high-quality texts, interactive teaching and a core set of strategies embedded and understood by all.

· Children are given the opportunity to read in a variety of contexts – individual, paired etc.

· Children and adults across the Trust develop a lifelong love of reading.

· There is a culture of Reading for Pleasure.

· Parents and Carers are engaged with the Reading for Pleasure/teaching of Reading agenda.

· Vocabulary development – pupils investigate key language during reading lessons e.g. dictionary skills.

Reading & Phonics (also includes Reading for Pleasure)

· Overview of NC core objectives – Word Reading and Comprehension

· Reading skills

· Reading for Pleasure opportunities

· Cross-curricular links

· Assessment

Our Writing Vision

· Writing curriculum links to the core text and uses principles of Talk for Writing and recommendations from ‘EEF Improving Literacy’ recommendations

· Cross-curricular writing opportunities are planned for across all topics/themes whereby children transfer writing skills to any learning episode/subject

· There is a culture of Writing for Pleasure which includes writing for a purpose e.g. letters/emails to authors

· Parents and Carers are engaged with the Writing for Pleasure/teaching of Writing agenda

· Vocabulary development – pupils use sophisticated word choices in line with NC spelling

Our Phonics Vision

· Phonics is our chosen early reading strategy.

· Clear, systematic approach using Letters and Sounds as the basis for the phonics curriculum.

· Key skills are developed: blending, segmenting.

· Lessons follow the RTPA structure: Review, Teach, Practise, Apply.

· Phonics lessons are fun, active and quick paced.

· Phonics lessons take place on a daily basis and opportunities to consolidate and apply within the curriculum and planned for.

Phonics is planned using the letters and sounds document. Planning can be found on www.lettersandsounds.co.uk. Teachers need to annotate planning with adaptations for their class and group.

Our Oracy Vision

· The foundation for oracy development begins with the Early Years Foundation Stage.

· Recommendations from the EEF Preparing for Literacy report (June 2018) are taken into consideration.

· Spoken language underpins the development of Reading and Writing and opportunities should be planned in for pupils to discuss, debate, dramatise and participate actively.

· Vocabulary development – a high level of language that is grammatically accurate is modelled by all adults at all times.

· Development of Metacognitive Talk.

National Curriculum

Our family of schools follow the National Curriculum (2013) which sets out:

Teachers should develop pupils’ spoken language, reading, writing and vocabulary as integral aspects of the teaching of every subject. English is both a subject in its own right and the medium for teaching; for pupils, understanding the language provides access to the whole curriculum. Fluency in the English language is an essential foundation for success in all subjects.

Reading

Pupils should be taught to read fluently, understand extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction) and be encouraged to read for pleasure. Schools should do everything to promote wider reading. They should provide library facilities and set ambitious expectations for reading at home.

Writing

Pupils should develop the stamina and skills to write at length, with accurate spelling and punctuation. They should be taught the correct use of grammar. They should build on what they have been taught to expand the range of their writing and the variety of the grammar they use. The writing they do should include narratives, explanations, descriptions, comparisons, summaries and evaluations: such writing supports them in rehearsing, understanding and consolidating what they have heard or read.

Oracy / Spoken language

Pupils should be taught to speak clearly and convey ideas confidently using Standard English. They should learn to justify ideas with reasons; ask questions to check understanding; develop vocabulary and build knowledge; negotiate; evaluate and build on the ideas of others; and select the appropriate register for effective communication. They should be taught to give well-structured descriptions and explanations and develop their understanding through speculating, hypothesising and exploring ideas. This will enable them to clarify their thinking as well as organise their ideas for writing.

Vocabulary development

Pupils’ acquisition and command of vocabulary are key to their learning and progress across the whole curriculum. Teachers should therefore develop vocabulary actively, building systematically on pupils’ current knowledge. They should increase pupils’ store of words in general; simultaneously, they should also make links between known and new vocabulary and discuss the shades of meaning in similar words. In this way, pupils expand the vocabulary choices that are available to them when they write. In addition, it is vital for pupils’ comprehension that they understand the meanings of words they meet in their reading across all subjects, and older pupils should be taught the meaning of instruction verbs that they may meet in examination questions. It is particularly important to induct pupils into the language which defines each subject in its own right, such as accurate mathematical and scientific language.

Essential Reading – Education Endowment Foundation

EYFS - Preparing for Literacy (June 2018):

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Campaigns/Literacy/Preparing_Literacy_Guidance_2018.pdf

KS1 – Improving Literacy recommendations (2017)

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Campaigns/Literacy/KS1_Literacy_Guidance_2017.pdf

KS2 – Improving Literacy recommendations (2017)

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Campaigns/Literacy/KS2_Literacy_Guidance_2017.pdf

How we teach Reading at the Woodland Academy Trust

Phonics

· Develops learners’ phonemic awareness

· Involves the skills of hearing, identifying and using phonemes or sound patters

· Emphasises the skills of decoding new words by sounding them out and combining or blending the sound-spelling patterns

· Follows RTPA: Review, Teach, Practise, Apply.

In the Woodland Academy Trust, we have fidelity to the teaching of Phonics through the Letters and Sounds strategy and utilise the Phonics Play overview for support with planning. Children are assessed half-termly and groups adjusted according to individual needs.

Children are homogenously grouped for a daily phonic session consisting of a four-part lesson:

REVIEW – TEACH – PRACTICE - APPLY

Children revisit previously taught sounds and high frequency or tricky words. Then each session, children are taught a new sound or strategy which they practise and then apply to reading and writing. Active phonics games are encouraged to engage and motivate pupils.

Children’s progress is monitored over the year using a Phonic Tracking sheet. Children who are not making expected progress are quickly identified and further interventions are put in place to address these needs.

Phoneme 

A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a word. For example, the word 'cat' has three phonemes, 'c', 'a', 't'.

Grapheme    

A grapheme is the written symbol of a phoneme. It is a letter, or group of letters, representing a sound. For example, the 'c' sound (or phoneme) can be written using the 'c', 'k' or 'ck' graphemes.

Segmenting 

Segmenting consists of breaking words down into their smallest units of sound (phonemes) to spell.

Blending 

Blending consists of building words from their smallest units of sound (phonemes) to read.

Digraph

A digraph is a two-letter grapheme where two letters represent one sound. For example, 'ea' in 'seat' and 'sh' in 'ship'.

Trigraph

A trigraph is a three-letter grapheme where three letters represent one sound (phoneme). For example, 'igh' in 'light'.

Syllable

A syllable is part of a word and only contains one vowel sound. The word 'pocket' has two syllables, 'pock' 'et'.

CVC 

A word made up of Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (e.g. dog, coat). VC (at), CVCC (hump), CCVC (crab) etc. may also be used.

Children in Year 1 are expected to complete the Phonic Screening Check in June. The check involves reading a combination of forty pseudo and real words. The purpose of the check is to identify children who are able to segment and blend words at the expected level. Any children who do not reach the required standard will retake the check in Year 2 having had a targeted input throughout the year. For children who require additional intervention in KS2, the PiXL CODE therapies are used to further support children’s learning.

The Four Part lesson

Review

The Revisit and Review section includes recently and previously learned phoneme grapheme correspondences, blending and segmenting skills as appropriate.

Suggested timing for this: 3-5 minutes.

· Use of flashcards

· Phonics Play website

· Using a character and sound strip

· Bingo using like words/letters

· Feely bags with sounds/objects/words

Teach

The Teach section includes new phoneme grapheme correspondences; skills of blending and segmenting; tricky words.

 

Suggested timing for this: 5 minutes. 

· Modelling the sound

· Writing the letters which represent the sound

· Use of sound tubs

· What’s in the box?

· Dry-wipe tabards

· Feely bags

Practice

The Practice section includes working with the new phoneme grapheme correspondences; skills of blending and segmenting.

 

Suggested timing for this: 8-10 minutes. 

· Magnetic letters and phoneme

· Frames

· Singing Phonics

· Mini whiteboard plus picture clues

· Crosswords, word searches

· Blockbusters, Countdown

· Kim’s game with labels

· Phoneme spotter stories

· Sentence substitution

· Rhyming word generation

Apply

The Apply section includes using the new knowledge and skills while reading/writing. Avoid over emphasis on writing at the earlier phases. This section can be differentiated with different words or captions. 

Suggested timing for this: 3 minutes

· Phonics related texts (e.g. Songbirds)

· Sentence generation

· Dictation

· Reading the phonemes in context, modelling with sound buttons

· Matching games

· Yes/No questions

· Choosing the right three answers

A circle map can be used:

Spain

Frame of reference can be used to model sentences using focus words/sounds.

rain

train

ai

paint

snail

chain

explain

Approaches and strategies for teaching Reading – EYFS

As set out in the Preparing for Literacy EEF report, early Reading should set out to be an approach that focuses on both language comprehension and decoding.

Language comprehension – includes learning opportunities that are focused on vocabulary development, language structures and the development of background knowledge. Storytelling and shared reading strategies have consistently been shown to improve children’s language comprehension skills.

Decoding – includes learning opportunities that are focused on alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness.

Whole Class Shared Reading in the Early Years

A range of frameworks can be used to support shared reading in order to improve children’s language and comprehension skills. The PEER framework can be used to develop vocabulary and background knowledge.

PEER sequence

PROMPT *

Prompt children to say something about the book

EVALUATE

Evaluate the children’s responses

EXPAND

Expand their response by rephrasing or adding further information

REPEAT

Repeat the prompt to help them learn the expansion (as above)

CROWD prompts*

Use the prompts as part of the PEER sequence

COMPLETION

Teacher leaves a blank at the end of a sentence for children to complete – great for rhymes and repetitive phrases

RECALL

Teacher asks children about something that they have already read – supports children to understand the story plot

OPEN ENDED

Focus on images and pictures – works particularly well with picture books and illustrations enabling children to express their own ideas

Wh…

Who, what, where, why, when…

What – vocabulary development

DISTANCING

Teacher supports children to connect the book to their own life experiences and seeks out a high quality discussion

Children in EYFS should have access to reading materials across all areas of learning, indoor and outdoors.

Individual Reading

Focus Group Reading - Book Talk

Phonics

Over the course of a week, teachers should hear each child read on a one to one basis at least once.

Over the course of a week, a group reads with the class teacher at least twice a week.

Children are grouped homogenously. Phonics sessions take place on a daily basis.

Reading in KS1

VIPERS – KS1 is a mnemonic for children to aid their knowledge of the reading process and skills they are acquiring.

V - vocabulary

I - inference

P - prediction

E - explanation

R - retrieval

S – sequence/summary

Question prompts:

Vocabulary

What does the word….mean in this sentence?

Find and copy a word which means…

What does this word or phrase tell you about…?

Which word in this section do you think is the most important? Why?

Inference

Why was…feeling…?

Why did….happen?

Why did….say…?

Can you explain why….?

What do you think the author intended when they said…?

How does…make you feel?

Prediction

Look at the book cover/blurb – what do you think this book will be about?

What do you think will happen next? What makes you think this?

How does the choice of character or setting affect what will happen next?

What is happening? What do you think happened before? After?

What do you think the last paragraph suggests will happen next?

Explanation

Who is your favourite character? Why?

Why do you think all of the main characters are girls/boys/animals etc in the story?

Would you like to live in this setting? Why/why not?

Is there anything you would change about this story?

Do you like this text? What do you like about it?

Retrieve

What kind of text is this?

Who did…?

Where did..?

When did…?

What happened when…?

Why did…happen?

How did…?

How many…?

What happened to…?

Sequence

Can you number these events 1-5 in the order that they happened?

What happened after…?

What was the first thing that happened in the story?

Can you summarise in a sentence the opening/middle/end/dilemma/resolution of the story?

In what order do these chapter headings come in the story?

What does a Reciprocal Reading session look like?

Reading introduction

Each child is assigned a role:

1. The Predictor

2. The Questioner

3. The Clarifier

4. The Summariser

5. The Boss

Children read a few paragraphs of chosen text/extract/poem etc. Children should be encouraged to use note-taking strategies such as highlighting sentences/words or sticky notes to help them better prepare for their role.

At the given stopping point, the Summariser will highlight the key ideas up to this point in the reading.

The Questioner will then pose questions about the text:

· Unclear parts

· Puzzling information

Connections to other concepts already learned

The Clarifier will address confusing parts and attempt to answer the questions that have been posed.

How this approach links with EEF recommendations (Literacy KS1):

VIPERS approach ensures that these specific strategies are taught.

Reading for Pleasure pedagogy

Teaching of Reading structure

Reciprocal Reading utilises these skills also.

Additional phonics sessions will allow teachers to plan for any specific gaps that need filling, allowing children time to consolidate their learning.

Teaching of Reading - Year 2

About the 2019 paper

Paper 1 – An extract from My Big Brother JJ by Odette Elliott. The questions were mostly from content domain 1b which required children to retrieve relevant information.

Paper 1 – A Non-Fiction text on Cowboys.

Paper 2 – An adaptation of ‘I work as a Park Keeper’. This text was quite long compared to last year, totalling 489 words. Most questions were from the 1b content domain with just one 1d inference question.

Paper 2 – Dora the Storer, challenged higher ability readers. The questions were predominantly inference based.

Content Domain

2019

2018

1a

15%

12.5%

1b

57.5%

65%

1c

0%

5%

1d

27.5%

17.5%

1e

0%

0%

Approaches and strategies for Whole Class Reading – KS2

About whole class reading –

Whole class reading sessions mean that all children, all learners work together, learn together and are immersed in the same quality first teaching of reading. They are involved in all high quality discussions and questioning related to the texts/extracts that they are reading.

Reading in KS2

VIPERS – KS2 is a range of reading prompts based on the 2016 reading content domains found in the NC Test Framework.

V - vocabulary

I - inference

P - prediction

E - explanation

R - retrieval

S – summary

Question prompts:

Vocabulary

What do the words…and…suggest about the character, setting and mood?

Which word tells you that?

Which keyword tells you about the character/setting/mood?

Fine one word in the text which means…

Find and highlight the word that is closest in meaning to…

Find a word or phrase which shows/suggests that….

Inference

Find and copy a group of words which show that …

How do these words make the reader feel? How does this paragraph suggest this?

How do the descriptions of…show that they are…

How can you tell that….

What impression of….do you get from these paragraphs?

What voice might these characters use?

What was…thinking when…

Who is telling the story?

Prediction

From the cover what do you think this text is going to be about?

What is happening now? What happened before this?

What will happen after?

What does this paragraph suggest will happen next

What makes you think this?

Do you think the choice of setting will influence how the plot develops?

Do you think…will happen? Yes, no, maybe? Explain your answer using evidence from the text.

Explanation

Why is the text arranged in this way?

What structures has the author used?

What is the purpose of this text feature?

Is the use of….effective?

The mood of the character changes throughout the text. Find and copy the phrases which show this.

What is the author’s point of view?

What affect does…have on the audience?

How does the author engage the reader here?

Which words and phrases did….effectively?

Which section was the most interesting/exciting part?

Retrieve

How would you describe this story/text? What genre is it? How do you know?

How did…?

How often…?

Who had…? Who is…? Who did…?

What happened to …

What does…do?

How ….is…?

What can you learn from …… from this section?

Give one example of….

The story is told from whose perspective?

Summarise

Can you number these events 1-5 in the order that they happened?

What happened after…?

What was the first thing that happened in the story?

Can you summarise in a sentence the opening/middle/end of the story?

In what order do these chapter headings come in the story?

VIPER display link https://www.literacyshedblog.com/vipers.html

How this approach links with EEF recommendations (Literacy – KS2):

VIPERS approach ensures that these specific strategies are taught

Reading for Pleasure pedagogy

Teaching of Reading structure

Teaching & Learning model

Teaching of Reading – Year 6

What you need to know from 2019?

73% of children achieved the expected standard in Reading – this was a decrease of 2% since 2018, but still 2% higher than 2017.

78% of children achieved the expected standard in Writing – this remains the same as previous.

78% of children achieved the expected standard in EGPS – this remains the same as previous.

Reading EXS

Reading GDS

2019

28

41

Change from 2018

+/-0

+1

2018

28

40

2017

26

39

2016

21

34

Content Domain

2019

2018

2a

Vocabulary

12%

20%

2b

Retrieval

42%

26%

2c

Summarise

2%

6%

2d

Inference

36%

44%

2e

Prediction

0%

0%

2f

Contrast

0%

0%

2g

Explain

3%

0%

2h

Explain

2%

4%

Sustained reading AND reading speeds!

Take a look at the information below.

Text 1

Text 2

Text 3

Number of words

Pass Mark /50

2019

633

The Park

632

Fact Sheet: About Bumblebees

903

Music Box

2168

28

2018

560

The Giant Panda Bear

214

Grannie poem

714

Albion’s Dream

1488

28

2017

602

Gaby to the Rescue

709

Swimming the English Channel

626

An Encounter at Sea

1937

26

2016

384

The Lost Queen

768

Wild Ride

635

The Way of the Dodo

1787

21

2016

Sample

765

The Lost Queen

169

Giant poem

725

The Lost World

1659

n/a

2015

505

Charlie Small

708

Guide Dogs

658

California’s Unlikely Warriors

1871

18

2014

627

The Humble Potato

576

The Octopus

652

White Fang

1855

19

Over the last four tests, a child, on average, needs to be able to read at 106 words per minute in order to be able to access the tests. Children in KS2 will take speed reading tests across the year in order to identify where the pupils may need additional support.

Whole Class Reading Strategies

These strategies are set out to provide further guidance for use when planning teaching and learning of Reading. The various strategy aims are to develop children’s understanding of a text, children’s ability to infer and predict as well as expand their ability to summarise and explain key points.

Strategy

…in practice

VIPERS link

Cover inference

Share the front cover with children

· What predictions can they make?

· What inferences can they make?

· Why has the author/illustrator chosen to use specific colours, font types?

· Why have some characters been shown?

· Can children infer what time period the text is from?

All answers must be fully explained and summarised.

Check the back cover – is there additional information available? Does this information present any new information, challenge previous or support previous inferences made?

Inference

Explanation

Summary

Authorial Intent – Text Analysis

Select an extract/passage/scene

· Work with children to deconstruct what is being said.

· Break down each line and challenge children to demonstrate their understanding of vocabulary, language, effect, atmosphere, formality, character attitudes, feelings

Vocabulary

Inference

Map Work inference

Map work is good to use at the end of a piece of reading

· Children can demonstrate their knowledge of what they have already read to explain/describe locations that they know about – retrieving evidence from the text

Inference

Retrieval

Summary

Speedo Summary

Separating opinion and fact

· Model to children how to justify where they believe something to be true or false which is represented on a speedo symbol (True/False on either side)

· Children have to write a good summary statement to justify their opinion/decision.

Summary

Interior Monologue

Considering the perspective of a character

· Pause at chosen points of the text…what is the character feeling? What would they say next?

· Children approach the ‘thought chair’ and respond detailing the perspective of that character

· Children write an interior monologue and evaluate their writing demonstrating how they know/evidence linked

Inference

Prediction

Summary

Hot Seating

Imagining the role of a news reporter

· Consider what questions could be asked of the character to find out more…

Inference

Prediction

Explanation

Retrieval

Summary

In the style of…

Can children write in the same tone of an extract/text?

· This is useful to assess their understanding of the structures used

· Can they self-assess or ask peers to assess their written pieces, what could be done to improve…?

Inference

Simply Summary

Comprehension does NOT mean just answering questions

· Simply re-word and summarise what has been read

· Pick out key events and their impact on subsequent chapters

· A high level of understanding is needed to do this well

Summary

Show me Tell me

Draw the character or setting/scene

· Useful for checking children’s understanding of language and characterisation

· Surround the image with text evidence that leads them to explain their decisions

Vocabulary

Inference

Retrieval

Emotions Web

Understanding motivations and decision making

· The web can be used to demonstrate opposing thoughts and feelings they may have in order to demonstrate a good understanding of the text and the characters involved

· What should happen next? Are there similarities with other texts?

Explanation

Summary

Level 1 2 3 Vocabulary

Discussing the use of language

· Children review the reading to find Level 1 2 3 vocabulary

Level 1 – spoken everyday

Level 2 – most common found when reading

Level 3 – technical, subject specific

· Complete as a whole class, discuss reasons behind choices

Level 1 word

Meaning

Level 2 word

Meaning

Level 3 word

Meaning

Vocabulary

Emotion Graphs

Track the emotions of the main character on a line graph

· This can be done within one extract, chapter, whole text

· Once plotted, children use their evidence to substantiate their decisions

Inference

Explanation

Retrieval

Summary

Reason this…

Debate the pros and cons

· Split the class and debate

· Debates should be characterised by children explaining their decisions from evidence within the text

· Once sides have been debated, ask children to explain what they would do if they were the character

Reasons to…

Reasons not to…

Inference

Explanation

Retrieval

Summary

Juxtaposition

Exploring language choice, intent and character responses

· Provide a photo/text as a scaffold

· Challenge children to explore the juxtaposition represented by a specific scene

· What tools have been used by the author to create atmosphere?

· Don’t forget – explain what juxtaposition means and that children understand this!

Inference

(adapted and inspired from @MrBKing1988)

Meeting the needs of all learners.

This year, we are introducing Reading Gladiators in Years 2, 4 and 6.

Reading Gladiators is a school based reading programme designed to challenge, inspire and motivate higher attaining readers and those that are identified as potentially able to work at greater depth within Years 2, 4 and 6.

The framework for Reading Gladiators requires:

· Deep engagement

· Response

· Comprehension

Children are immersed in quality, demanding and varied books, prompted to have high level discussions helping them to develop higher level reading skills as well as building stamina, developing adventurous readers and broadening knowledge of quality literature.

Year 2 programme, Deeper Reading – when children are becoming fluent and independent readers

Year 4 programme, Adventurous Reading – when children develop their reading identities

Year 6 programme, Moving Up and Moving On – when children move up to new challenges

Reading for Pleasure

Reading for Pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success (OECD, 2002).

At Knockhall we ensure the children know the distinction between Reading Instruction (the teaching of reading) and Reading for Pleasure. This table sets out some of those differences:

Reading Instruction

Reading for Pleasure

Learning to read

Choosing to read

Skills

The will

Decoding and comprehension

Engagement and response

System readers

Lifelong readers

Teacher direction

Child direction

Teacher ownership

Child ownership

Attainment

Achievement

Expected standards or greater

A reader for life

Standards

The reader’s own agenda

(Cremin et al., 2014:157)

In order to further our Reading for Pleasure journey, we are mindful of research set out by the Open University.

In order to develop children’s reading for pleasure, research shows that teachers need to develop:

1. Considerable knowledge of children’s literature and other texts

2. Knowledge of children’s reading practices

3. A RfP pedagogy which focuses on:

a. Social reading environments

b. Reading aloud

c. Informal book talk, inside-text talk

d. Independent reading time

4. To be Reading Teachers – teachers who read and readers who teach

5. To develop reciprocal and interactive reading communities.

(Cremin et al., 2014)

Each of these research aspects can be seen in practice as follows:

Research strands

How this can be seen in our classrooms and provision

A RfP pedagogy which focuses on:

Social reading

environments

An environment that supports RfP, includes:

• a relaxed, informal ethos

• an attractive, invitational space

• a range of texts that tempt

• informed support for choice

• child involvement and ownership

• considerable conversation about texts

Reading aloud

Reading aloud has many personal, social and cognitive benefits.

Story Time/Reading Aloud time should be a feature within your timetable on a daily basis.

Informal book talk, inside-text talk

Make time for informal reading chats.

Build/Plan in time to talk about texts in other learning/curriculum areas.

Create time to recommend texts – these can be added to your book corners and reading trees (home reading)

Establish reading buddies

Nurture reading conversations in the playground

Independent reading time

Offer a choice of reading material

Model engagement by reading and talking

Seek out varieties of spaces and places to read with your class

How we document Reading for Pleasure

We recognise that children’s pleasure in reading cannot be measured, however, we are committed to supporting and understanding as much as possible how to further support a child’s journey as a reader.

Reading for Pleasure is linked to motivation, attitudes and children’s identities as a reader.

The National Literacy Trust (2017) considered the affective processes and reading behaviours as follows:

It is expected that teachers use a range of tools to get a rounded picture of children in order to ascertain their responses to reading for pleasure over time (Cremin et al., 2014).

In order to document Reading for Pleasure, it is essential that links are made to research-informed practice, in particular in ensuring children’s voices are heard.

Tools can include:

· Start of and end of year pupil surveys

· Oral discussions

· Written surveys of children’s views

· Observations

· Notes of children’s engagement

· Reader interviews

· Library borrowing records

· Reading Rivers / 24 hour Reads

· Parent Voice

· Casual conversations

· Drawings

· A-Z of favourite authors, poets, illustrators

· Incidental notes

· Graffiti Wall

These tools can be used in a whole class context, individual children or targeted groups of children. All of these tools can help us, as teachers, know more about the reading habits, likes and dislikes of the children in our class. This in turn, will inform our next steps in planning provision for those children.

Further information about these tools can be found at:

www.researchrichpedagogies.org

Creating BOOKFLIX

Next academic year, we need your help. We would like to create a Trust BOOKFLIX resource which is accessible to children and their families. We are looking for volunteers to choose their favourite story/text, film themselves and allow their recording to be added to the Trust youtube channel. This will support our Reading for Pleasure vision, specifically linked to building a community of readers.

Patron of Reading

Each school has a Patron of Reading. Generally, our patrons remain with each school for a minimum of an academic year. Schools invite patrons in to work with identified children/classes based on that authors’ specialism and interest. Outcomes of these visits should be for children who participate to produce a piece of work which can then be celebrated.

Home Reading

Home reading records are provided to each child which should be filled in by the child and their parent/carer on a daily basis and returned on a daily basis.

To further support the Reading for Pleasure agenda, this year parents and carers are invited to provide a leaf to illustrate and record their reading for pleasure. As a family of schools, we want to celebrate reading for pleasure and invite children and families to complete a reading reflection leaf which will be added to a reading for pleasure tree display in a prominent spot in each school. This approach will need to be modelled and reinforced and we would welcome teachers as readers to complete a leaf and add to the display every time a class book is completed. This strategy should be based on children choosing a book that they wish to read.

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell is a fantastic read with superb use of emotive and descriptive language.

M

Accelerated Reader

Knockhall Primary School uses the Accelerated Reader programme as a home reading strategy also. Completion of AR tasks and quizzes are monitored by the DHT Curriculum and class teachers.

Power of Reading

https://www.clpe.org.uk/powerofreading

Our family of schools are subscribed to the Power of Reading website which provides access to a range of teaching sequences which are designed to:

· Guide planning

· Allow exploration of high-quality texts in depth

· Enhance reading comprehension

· Provide meaningful contexts and purposes for writing

· Provide cross curricular links

· Put quality literature at the heart of our curriculum(s)

· Embed the teaching of phonics, grammar, punctuation and spelling into a rich reading curriculum.

Oracy

De Bono’s Thinking Hats approach supports the development of Oracy within the classroom.

Use of the Six Thinking Hats encourage pupils to think about an issue collaboratively and in different ways. It enables pupils to broaden their understanding of a complex issue and to generate ideas or solutions that they might not have done without such an exercise. This can be applied within any subject context.

How we teach Writing at the Woodland Academy Trust

Talk for Writing http://www.talk4writing.co.uk/

Talk for Writing enables children to imitate the language they need for a particular topic orally before reading and analysing it and then writing their own version.

Medium Term Plans Writing

Medium term plans for writing are used to ensure that there is curriculum coverage and progression of skills throughout the year. Teachers link the National Curriculum objectives to their writing overviews for each half term ensuring that there is sufficient coverage of all objectives and opportunities built in to close the gap from previous year group learning.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

How we teach English, Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling at the Woodland Academy Trust

The teaching of EGPS is timetabled in our school and is marked with a discrete time for each year group. However, EGPS must be planned carefully to make links with the reading and, particularly, writing planned for that day. For example, teachers often plan EGPS based on book looks having revealed a common misconception in their classes.

English Meets

English meets are a short 10 minutes activity each day to revise skills taught previously and aid vocabulary development. Each day, a word is chosen linked to learning in reading, writing or any area of the curriculum e.g. theme words linked to the current topic. English meets should provide opportunities to investigate the different aspects of the word. They can look at the history of the word, guess what the word means from an image, use the word in context and practice how to spell the word. Examples of possible spelling activities are listed below. Words are then displayed in the classroom using thinking maps as a visual reference point for the pupils. They can add them to their magpie books. Pupils are then be actively encouraged to use the word in their work.

Grammar/Punctuation focus

Centre circle – aspect being taught

Outer circle – rules and conventions around the aspect (as a form of success criteria)

Frame of reference – modelled writing using that aspect

Spelling / Vocabulary focus

Centre circle – word(s) being taught

Outer circle –Meaning: morphology, etymology, orthology, phonology, visual, links to other words, patterns

Frame of reference – modelled sentences using word

Spelling

Teaching spelling is not about weekly testing and should form part of the English meet session and should investigate the various aspects of the chosen word.

Spelling activities in the classroom

Word Letters

Using a round robin, change one letter at a time.

Active Participation

In pairs, children decide on the spelling of a word together. Groups can come together to share and discuss their spellings and agree. Send out an envoy to each group to find out how different groups have spelt the word and then report back to home base. Feedback can be given immediately to groups as they self/peer assess. Encourage children to tick each letter that they have used correctly.

Big Spell, Beat the Bell

Similar to Word Bingo – provide children with bingo card of words that have been spelt correctly and incorrectly.

A Spell Well

When children have achieved the correct spelling of a word or etymology of a word, they could add their name to the Spell Well (in class or perhaps in the hall). Names can be pulled out each week to celebrate class spelling champions.

Meaning Bingo

Again, use a bingo format and check children’s knowledge and understanding of the meaning of specific words.

Spelling Word Relay

Children take it in turns around the classroom to change words based on the final letter or two letters of the previous word. You could also split into groups and add a competitive element.

Texture – Refresh – Shingle …

Splat the Word

Place words around the classroom, children have to ‘splat’ them as you call them out.

Spelling Detective

Sort words into groups e.g. able/ible

Immediate feedback

When feeding back to children, don’t forget to use phoneme boxes to support any errors.

Remember there are patterns not rules.

How we teach Handwriting at the Woodland Academy Trust

Knockhall uses the Improvement in School Handwriting approach which ensures a consistent whole-school approach to teaching handwriting from Reception to Year 6.

The Improvement in School Handwriting approach ensures that:

· Excellent handwriting and high-quality presentation skills are promoted.

· Children have a sense of pride in themselves and their work as well as increasing their motivation and enthusiasm for writing

Interim Framework expectations:

KS1

Working at

Working at Greater Depth

KS2

Working at

Working at Greater Depth

To join handwriting.

To use neat joined up writing most of the time.

Maintains legibility, fluency and speed in handwriting through choosing whether to join specific letters.

Writing for Pleasure

During this academic year, as this is developed, our aims are as follows:

· Build in opportunities for children to write for pleasure whereby they are not constrained by success criteria and essentially ‘free write’. They should also be writing for a real-life purpose for example writing a letter and sending it off

We see these opportunities being developed in line with some of the celebration days that have been planned e.g.

Term 1 – Our schools will be celebrating Roald Dahl Day so we would like children to be given the opportunity to respond to their reading with a writing for pleasure session.

Term 3 – Pupils are to complete the 500-word story challenge by Radio 2.

Term 4 – During World Book Day, children will respond to the excitement of the day with a write for pleasure session.

Term 5 –During National Storytelling Month, children will be given the freedom to respond to their stories through ‘free writing’ choices.

Term 6 – During National Writing Day; build in opportunities for children to write for pleasure.

Sharing good practice

We are committed to sharing our practice with the wider community. Each year we commit to participating in a range of awards that are open for our family of schools to enter. Examples of these include:

· Kent Literacy Awards

· Wicked Young Writers

· 500 word story competition (BBC)

Celebrating learning

Roald Dahl Day - 13th September 2019

Please see the following for how our schools will work together to create a fantastic event http://www.roalddahl.com/create-and-learn/join-in/roald-dahl-day

In order to celebrate Roald Dahl Day, our aim is for all year groups across our school to read, share or discover the following books.

· Children will celebrate the day by dressing up as a Roald Dahl character

· Playtime and Lunchtime – Roald Dahl film to be played for children to watch

· All teachers to be on the playground at playtime reading a Roald Dahl story for children to listen to

· School lunches will be Roald Dahl themed to celebrate Revolting Recipes

· Writing for Pleasure session should be planned in during this day.

EYFS George’s Marvellous Medicine

Year 1 The Enormous Crocodile

Year 2 The Twits

Year 3 Revolting Rhymes

Year 4 Dirty Beasts

Year 5 The BFG

Year 6 The Witches

National Poetry Day -3rd October 2019

The theme this year is Truth.

National Poetry Day is an annual celebration of poetry and all things poetical. It’s about everybody sharing poetry, reading poetry, writing poetry and enjoying poetry. The theme is Truth. 2019 is the 25th anniversary of National Poetry Day

In order to celebrate National Poetry Day, our aim is for all year groups across our family of schools to:

· Investigate the vocabulary used within the poem, clarify meaning of new words

· Discuss imagery

· Create artwork in response to the poem

· Perform the poem as a class/group

· Write your own response to the poem

· Illustrate the poem

· Explore other poetry by your year group poet

· Writing for pleasure session should be planned in on this day

BBC Radio 2’s 500 Words - January 2020

‘500 Words’ is the UK’s most successful short story-writing competition for children between the ages of 5 and 13. Deadline will be early March 2020.

Children will practice writing stories with word limits throughout the week and build up to the 500-word competition limit. More information will be given before this launch.

National Share a Story Month May 2020.

National Share-A-Story Month (NSSM) is an annual celebration of the power of storytelling and story sharing, providing a fantastic opportunity to fulfil the core aim of the FCBG of bringing children and stories together. Across the country Federation book groups and individuals run a whole host of events.

Activities during this month could include:

· Assembly – retelling of a story

· Tell a story per phase across the course of a week

· Invite a Storyteller or your Patron of Reading in during the week

· Oral focused resources should be planned for e.g. puppets/role play/drama

· Build in opportunities for children to tell stories to each other

· Create videos of children telling stories to share on our website and Twitter (only videos of children with the correct permissions will be used)

· Take reading and storytelling out of the classroom e.g. visit Forest School and tell stories around the sitting circle

· Invite parents and carers in for a storytelling session.

World Book Day 5th March 2020

The focus of this day will be sharing stories. We will launch a 15 Places to be caught reading challenge on this day. https://www.worldbookday.com/

Classes will also carry out author studies on female authors as part of a joint celebration of World Book Day and International Women’s day (Friday 6th March)

Activities to include

· Wearing pyjamas for the day

· An assembly where extracts form books are read out and pupils will guess which teacher has recommended the book

· Launching stories read by staff on the school Facebook page

· Investigating female authors

Celebrate stories, love reading

National Writing Day - 26th June 2020

https://www.nationalwritingday.org.uk/

Meaning

Morphology

Etymology

Meaningful parts, small units of a word that changes the meaning

History/Geography of that word

Orthology

Phonology

Visual

Links to other words

Spelling conventions

Sound

Looks